Video is taking over the web
Posted by
Mark
on Saturday, January 5th, 2008. Filed under Digital lifestyle, Film/Movies, Online video.
It’s amazing how much video is now on the web. And it’s equally amazing how much video web users are watching.
I was alerted to “Political Lunch” in a NY Times article on appointment viewing. But I know about appointment viewing. I’ve been watching Quarterlife on Fridays and Mondays, the day after new 7-9 minute episodes are uploaded.
Bandwidth, of course, has a lot to do with the rise of video. But it’s also the relative cost of equipment, from inexpensive (but good) video cameras to larger screens on our computers. The “big screen” is now our HD TV’s, not the cinema. (I guess movie theaters are still “silver screens,” or “super big screens.”)
The impact of all this – at least as far as I’m concerned today – is how what we used to think of as the broadcast world is merging with that of the “narrowcast.” From a media buying perspective, I’ve always tried to think in terms of the most general to the most specific. An ad in a newspaper, on TV or in a magazine is fairly broad in its appeal, and its object is to introduce your brand or product to a consumer and draw them toward a more personal or intimate relationship with you.
Web video of the type discussed in the Times article puts more power in the hands – or at the mouse click – of the consumer as well as the brand. I can watch when I want, yes. But just to the right or just below the content – right THERE – I can click to learn about a producut, maybe even buy it.
Everyone wins, potentially.
I may still need the magazine and the TV spot. But the broad in “broadcast” is getting narrower and narrower all the time.
Posted by Mark on 01.05.08.